News

The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2022: ‘Roads to Hope’ Emergency Healthcare Becomes a Reality

8 December 2022

By the time that HART’s Big Give Christmas Challenge closed for donations on 6 December 2022, we had exceeded our target of £20,780 and raised a phenomenal £34,932 for Roads to Hope: Emergency Healthcare in Nigeria!

We are so grateful for every life-saving gift given to this project and cannot thank you, our supporters, enough.

It is because of your donations that we surpassed our target and secured match-funding via the Big Give. Through your generosity, HART’s local partners – Revd Canon Hassan John and the Diocese of Jos – will be able to respond to medical emergencies in southern Kaduna and Plateau states. Our local partners will travel with volunteer medical staff (displaced persons themselves) to conflict-affected villages to deliver basic emergency healthcare following an attack. The volunteers will use the van’s resources to clean wounds, extract metal, test for preventable illnesses, and transport severely wounded patients to hospital. They will also deliver talks to communities about personal hygiene and advise mothers caring for their babies amid conflict.

Last year’s campaign made it possible for Roads to Hope to bring educational supplies and lessons to displaced children in central Nigeria. This year’s expansion of the Roads to Hope project into healthcare is a crucial development amid escalations in abductions, atrocities, and violence amounting to genocide.

Attacks by Fulani militia continue to escalate against predominantly Christian communities and persecuted minorities: an estimated 13,000-19,000 killings have occurred since 2009, with many victims suffering life-changing injuries. Unfortunately, healthcare facilities among displaced populations are ill-equipped and families in need of support are required to travel to the nearest town, often days away by foot. Many injured children are treated with local remedies, such as crushing leaves to treat wounds.

Mobile healthcare in central Nigeria has never been so urgently needed: Community leaders repeatedly state that more people would survive attacks if there was a quick medical response, able to stop bleeding and prevent infections. HART partner, Revd Canon Hassan John, said: “I have personally saved many lives with only a little first aid knowledge and the first aid pouch I keep in my car.”

Through your generous support, HART has raised enough funds via the Big Give to equip the first Roads to Hope healthcare unit – and we have made considerable progress on funding the second.

Our local partners will be able to save lives by: increasing access to emergency healthcare for persecuted communities; reducing the suffering of those who survive attacks on their villages; and restoring hope to communities and families who have felt neglected and marginalised by the international community. Thank you – we couldn’t have done it without you!

Back to News

Help our local partners realise their vision of hope for their communities